Statutory rape, misconduct charges dismissed against former officer after probation

Charges against Cassen Jackson-Garrison, right, a former Oak Ridge Police Department police officer, were dismissed this year after two years of supervised probation. Jackson-Garrison had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017. His attorney, Greg Isaacs, left, said Jackson-Garrison had accepted responsibility for the allegations, and he compared Jackson-Garrison’s childhood story to the one portrayed in the movie “The Blind Side.” The probation was a judicial diversion, allowing the felony charges to be dismissed if Jackson-Garrison complied with the terms and conditions. Jackson-Garrison and Isaacs are pictured above during a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

After a two-year probation, charges were dismissed this year against a former Oak Ridge Police Department officer who had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017.

His attorney successfully asked for judicial diversion for Cassen Jackson-Garrison, 36, more than three years ago, although the state opposed it. The judicial diversion gave Jackson-Garrison, a former star football player, the opportunity to have the felony charges dismissed and expunged, or removed from his record, at the end of his probationary period. But he had to comply with the terms and conditions. The two-year supervised probation ended in December 2019.

 

Charges against Cassen Jackson-Garrison, standing at right, a former Oak Ridge Police Department police officer, were dismissed this year after two years of supervised probation. Jackson-Garrison had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017. His attorney, Greg Isaacs, standing next to Jackson-Garrison, said Jackson-Garrison had accepted responsibility for the allegations, and he compared his client’s childhood story to the one portrayed in the movie “The Blind Side.” The probation was a judicial diversion, allowing the felony charges to be dismissed if Jackson-Garrison complied with the terms and conditions. Jackson-Garrison and Isaacs are pictured above during a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 12, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

After a two-year probation, charges were dismissed this year against a former Oak Ridge Police Department officer who had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017.

His attorney successfully asked for judicial diversion for Cassen Jackson-Garrison, 36, more than three years ago, although the state opposed it. The judicial diversion gave Jackson-Garrison, a former star football player, the opportunity to have the felony charges dismissed and expunged, or removed from his record, at the end of his probationary period. But he had to comply with the terms and conditions. The two-year probation ended in December 2019.

The charges were dismissed in January 2021, after Jackson-Garrison completed the terms of his diversion sentence.

The plea agreement has been previously reported, but the dismissal of the charges has not been. The charges appear to have now been expunged from Jackson-Garrison’s record, at least the portion that is publicly available.

Jackson-Garrison surrendered his P.O.S.T. (Peace Officer Standards Training) certification for police officers as part of his plea agreement, but he will not be placed on the sex offender registry.

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For members: Three plead guilty, one sentenced to 10 years in drug conspiracy after overdose death

Three people have pleaded guilty in federal court to drug and conspiracy charges related at least in part to an overdose death in Oak Ridge in 2017. One of the defendants, a 28-year-old Knoxville woman, was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison on Thursday. The drug conspiracy involved the distribution of fentanyl and heroin.

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The Howard H. Baker Jr. United States Courthouse is pictured above in Knoxville on Jan. 19, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Three people have pleaded guilty in federal court to drug and conspiracy charges related at least in part to an overdose death due to fentanyl in Oak Ridge in 2017. One of the defendants, a 28-year-old Knoxville woman, was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison on Thursday. The drug conspiracy involved the distribution of fentanyl and heroin.

The Knoxville woman, Katarina S. Carinci, pleaded guilty last year. She was sentenced to 125 months, or 10 years and five months, on July 1 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville by District Court Judge Thomas Varlan. Her prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.

Three people have pleaded guilty in federal court to drug and conspiracy charges related at least in part to an overdose death in Oak Ridge in 2017. One of the defendants, a 28-year-old Knoxville woman, was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison on Thursday. The drug conspiracy involved the distribution of fentanyl and heroin.

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Nine men arrested in undercover human trafficking operation

Nine men, including at least five who met with undercover agents posing as juveniles, were arrested on trafficking, sex, and prostitution charges in Oak Ridge on Thursday during a two-day undercover operation targeted at human trafficking in East Tennessee.

As part of the operation, law enforcement officers said they placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex cases.

“The focus of the operation was to identify individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a press release.

The covert operation included the Oak Ridge Police Department, special agents from the TBI Human Trafficking Unit, the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force (CTF), the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Seventh Judicial District Attorney General’s Office.

In a press release, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said the operation was conceived by ORPD in response to recent cases where men from other areas have solicited sex from juveniles and traveled to Oak Ridge to meet the girls. The ORPD led the covert operation on Wednesday and Thursday with technical and manpower help from the TBI, CTF, the Sheriff’s Office, and the DA’s Office, Clark said.

“Arrests were made when men came to an Oak Ridge location to pay to have sex with minors,” the DA said.

The operation also focused on identifying potential victims of trafficking. Two adult women were identified and offered services such as housing and counseling through Grow Free Tennessee, a program of the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking, the TBI said.

The covert human trafficking operation was conducted in Oak Ridge. Officers were focused on investigating people who buy sex as well as people engaged in sex trafficking, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Here are the allegations against the defendants charged in cases involving undercover agents posing as juveniles, according to the arrest warrants. The offenses occurred within 1,000 feet of a daycare facility.

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Pictured above are, from left in top row, Alex Hickey, Darron C. Hickman, Jeremy Williams, Jose W. Salguero, and Joshua Wilson, and from left in bottom row, Joshua Winningham, Juan Gomez, Michael Houck, and Michael J. Slover. (Photos by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)

Nine men, including at least five who met with undercover agents posing as juveniles, were arrested on trafficking, sex, and prostitution charges in Oak Ridge on Thursday during a two-day covert operation targeted at human trafficking in East Tennessee.

As part of the operation, law enforcement officers said they placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex cases.

Nine men, including at least five who met with undercover agents posing as juveniles, were arrested on trafficking, sex, and prostitution charges in Oak Ridge on Thursday during a two-day undercover operation targeted at human trafficking in East Tennessee.

As part of the operation, law enforcement officers said they placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex cases.

“The focus of the operation was to identify individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a press release.

The covert operation included the Oak Ridge Police Department, special agents from the TBI Human Trafficking Unit, the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force (CTF), the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Seventh Judicial District Attorney General’s Office.

In a press release, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said the operation was conceived by ORPD in response to recent cases where men from other areas have solicited sex from juveniles and traveled to Oak Ridge to meet the girls. The ORPD led the covert operation on Wednesday and Thursday with technical and manpower help from the TBI, CTF, the Sheriff’s Office, and the DA’s Office, Clark said.

“Arrests were made when men came to an Oak Ridge location to pay to have sex with minors,” the DA said.

The operation also focused on identifying potential victims of trafficking. Two adult women were identified and offered services such as housing and counseling through Grow Free Tennessee, a program of the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking, the TBI said.

The covert human trafficking operation was conducted in Oak Ridge. Officers were focused on investigating people who buy sex as well as people engaged in sex trafficking, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Here are the allegations against the defendants charged in cases involving undercover agents posing as juveniles, according to the arrest warrants. The offenses occurred within 1,000 feet of a daycare facility.

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DA: No charges will be filed in fatal police shooting

No criminal charges will be filed against three Oak Ridge Police Department officers after a fatal shooting on Briar Road in August, the county’s top prosecutor said Monday.

Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark released his report about the police shooting on Monday morning.

The report said that the man who died in the shooting, Fred J. Arcera, 25, was a U.S. Army veteran who had mental health problems and was reported to be suicidal—telling officers to kill him—and he had large butcher knives and had threatened officers, moving toward them with the knives that Saturday night.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated the shooting, which is common after law enforcement officers fatally shoot someone.

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TBI, DA: Police report they shot, killed man after he charged at them with knives

Note: This story was last updated at 7:30 p.m.

Three Oak Ridge police officers reportedly shot at a man and he was struck and killed Saturday night after he allegedly charged at the officers with two knives, according to state officials.

The shooting was reported on Briar Road just before 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The man who allegedly had two knives and was shot and killed was Fred John Henry Arcera, 41.

The Oak Ridge Police Department had responded to a report of individual needing help.

“At some point during their interaction, Arcera reportedly came at the officers with the weapons, resulting in three officers firing shots, striking him,” the TBI said. “He was pronounced dead at the scene.  No officers were injured during the incident.”

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge firefighter injured in fire on Artesia Dr.

An Oak Ridge firefighter was injured fighting a house fire on Artesia Drive early Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. (Photo by Oak Ridge Fire Department)

An Oak Ridge firefighter was injured in a fire in a vacant house on Artesia Drive early Friday, February 14.

The fire was reported at about 3:20 a.m. February 14.

When the Oak Ridge Fire Department arrived, firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming from the windows and eaves of the home, a press release said.

“The fire crew entered through the front door and quickly extinguished the fire in the kitchen area,” the press release said.

[Read more…]